Ramesh Sippy

Biography

Ramesh Sippy (born 23 January 1947) is an Indian film director, actor, and producer in Hindi cinema. He is particularly known for directing Sholay (1975), which is regarded as one of the most influential Indian films ever made. The Government of India honored him with Padma Shri in 2013.

In the year 2017, he founded the Ramesh Sippy Academy of Cinema & Entertainment in Mumbai.

Sippy's father was producer G. P. Sippy. Ramesh Sippy has been married twice; his current wife is actress Kiran Juneja. With his first wife, Geeta, he has 3 children. His son Rohan Sippy is a film director. His daughter Sheena was once married to Shashi Kapoor's son, Kunal Kapoor until they divorced in 2004.

Ramesh Sippy visited the sets of the film Sazaa, his father's first film when he was 6 years old. His first film job came at age nine, when he played Achala Sachdev's son in the 1953 film Shahenshah. He worked in both the production and direction departments in films like Johar-Mehmood in Goa and Mere Sanam, which his father was producing. 

He worked for 7 years as an assistant before becoming the director of Andaz, in 1971 which starred Shammi Kapoor, Hema Malini, and Rajesh Khanna and was a box-office success. His second film Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), featuring Hema Malini playing dual roles was highly successful and propelled Malini to superstardom

In 1975, he directed Sholay featuring an ensemble cast including Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, and Amjad Khan in his most iconic role as the dacoit Gabbar Singh. After a lukewarm start at the box office, the film went on to become the biggest blockbuster in Bollywood film history. Sholay still remains one of the most iconic films in Hindi film history and a favorite for Hindi film audiences globally.

None of his later films were able to match the success of Sholay. While Sholay was a tribute to the Westerns, his next film Shaan in 1980 was inspired by the James Bond films but was only a moderate success.

 In 1982, he brought together veteran actor Dilip Kumar and the reigning superstar of that era Amitabh Bachchan in Shakti. While the film was only moderately successful, it won the Filmfare Best Movie Award. In 1985, he directed Saagar, which starred Rishi Kapoor, Kamal Haasan and marked Dimple Kapadia's comeback to films after 12 years since her debut film Bobby.